Research Resources

Caroline has worked tirelessly to preserve and interpret the heritage of Black people in White County, the descendants of slaves who live in
a small rural community in the Sautee Nacoochee Valley area known as Bean Creek.

They shared their stories, loaned their images and memorabilia, and helped her present exhibits and events highlighting the cultural heritage
of Bean Creek at the Sautee Nacoochee Community Center, the University of Georgia, and elsewhere.

When Ms. Crittenden learned about a slave cabin in Nacoochee Valley, she realized its historic significance and recognized a unique opportunity
to broaden and enrich the story of the area. She acquired a remarkable collection of antebellum artifacts, including the slave cabin, and
proposed a new exhibit dedicated to African American Heritage.

She involved descendants of slaves and slave owners in the effort; she enlisted community volunteers and engaged experts to preserve,
document, and restore the cabin.

Allen Stovall, FASLA, University of Georgia, School of Environmental Design Professor Emeritus, an authority on natural and
cultural landscape analysis and planning. BLA Georgia, MLA Pennsylvania. Allen Stovall has been involved in the planning and design of the
African American Heritage Site since 2005. Stovall is a highly regarded advocate for environmental and historic preservation, and he has been
involved in many landscaping and preservations projects, too numerous to name, in the Sautee Nacoochee Valley area and elsewhere.

Stovall received dual Honor Awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects (ALSA) and the National Trust for Historic Preservation
for his
The Sautee and Nacoochee Valleys - A Preservation Study.
Commissioned by the Sautee Nacoochee Community Association, this
groundbreaking study provided the basis for placing both the Sautee and Nacoochee valleys on the National Register of Historic Places.
Stovall is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and a frequent juror in ASLA award programs. Although he lives in
Athens , Stovall's roots are in the Valley.

Jim is a well-known and well-established local contractor with extensive experience in restoring historic properties.
His interest and concern about authenticity earned him the confidence of all members of the community.

Chris is a native of Atlanta and grew up in Stone Mountain. He attended Young Harris College and enlisted in the Navy in 1979. After serving
six years he returned home to pursue a degree in History from the University of Georgia, and received his Masters in Historical Archaeology
from The College of William and Mary in Virginia.

Chris worked at the Atlanta History Center for fifteen years serving as administrator of the Tullie Smith Farm, and as Head of Historic
Houses from 2002 also managing the Swan House. He has been at the Folk Pottery Museum since it opened in September 2006.

David Looper, professional mover, on November 2nd, 2005, relocated the dilapidated but heavily braced slave
dwelling just a few hundred yards from near the Old Sautee Store to a temporary site overlooking Nacoochee Valley. After the cabin was
safely resting on its new foundation, project coordinator Caroline Crittenden told enthusiastic spectators, “it only took three years
and 15 minutes.”

That was just the beginning of the cabin's restoration. Four years later, on April 17th, 2009, Looper again placed the
cabin on steel beams and moved it to the SNCA campus. Patrol cars provided an escort for a parade of utility vehicles, moving equipment,
members of the community and press. A fire truck - flashing lights, bells, whistles, horns and a Kazoo(!) announced the arrival of the
Nacoochee cabin at its final destination, the African American Heritage Site at the Sautee Nacoochee Center.

Andy L. Allen, Crittenden's friend and collaborator on all Bean Creek initiatives, including the African American Heritage Site.
Andy's ancestors were enslaved by the Williams family. Although she could not attend the (white) Nacoochee School, she desegregated public school buses
35 years after Brown vs. Board of Education.
Andy recently retired from sewing Cabbage Patch dolls after 30 years but still drives a school bus hauling kids,
white and black, to White County public schools.

Barry Stiles, Craftsman, assisted with the planning and preparation of the cabin for relocation in 2005. His work as a
craftsman includes the construction of a barn and the renovation of an historic cabin. “It wasn't until working on a house built by my great grandfather that I
began working on old structures and it was there that I developed a great sense of caring and respect for historic buildings as well as the original builders.”

He worked with the project coordinator, consultants, and architects in planning the preliminary site design and was primarily responsible for removing all
additions or modifications that were made to the original slave cabin in the early 1900s.

Mr. Stiles graduated from U.H. at Manoa with a B.S. in Geology and Geophysics. He then worked as a freelance photographer for many years. He currently works
at the Fox Fire Museum in Rabun County, Georgia.

Bob Slack, Consultant/Interpreter/Raconteur - Mr. Slack retired from Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR),
Parks & Historic Sites Division where he was the naturalist/program director at UNICOI park and the Folklore Education Specialist
for the Conservation Center at Smithgall Woods, where he reconstructed a log cabin, gave tours and demonstrations.

He has been involved with numerous exhibits at the SNCA History Museum and the African American Heritage Site, including exhibit design and construction
as well as demonstrations, including basket making, wood working, shingle splitting, and saw milling, to name only a few. He assisted several individuals with
the construction of log cabin, rock chimneys, and stone walls.

He was consulted on the DNR Hardman Farm project and regularly presents programs and demonstrations for State Parks, museums, public schools, fairs and
festivals. Mr. Slack constructed many of the interior exhibits in the Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia and he demonstrates a variety of folk life
skills for tour groups occasionally.

Lawrence Dorsey, a Bean Creek resident and novice wood carving demonstrator at the African American Heritage Site.
Melissa Roberts made Lawrence's shirt, which is made of historically authentic materials, based on research into
slave clothing.

Lena Belle Dorsey, born in 1935, the blind Bean Creek matriarch has been involved in the Heritage Site since its inception.
Lena attended the black Oaks Springs public school in Cleveland, GA. At her graduation, a young James Brown performed at her class prom.

Appalachian Regional Commission(ARC), under the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA), provided significant
access to resources and financial assistance with a $50,000 matching grant. ARC is a federal-state partnership that works with the
people of Appalachia to create opportunities for self-sustaining economic development and improved quality of life.

Georgia Department of Economic Development (DEcD) provided financial assistance with a matching Tourism Product
Development grant of $8,665. DEcD also provides on-going access to resources, publicity and promotion of programming via DEcD's official
tourism website, Explore Georgia, as well as the on-going services of the NEGA Mountains tourism representative.

Georgia Dept of Natural Resources (DNR), Historic Preservation Division (HPD), offered advice about historic preservation
and access to historic sites and DNR representatives in the field of preservation, including those focused on African American history
and historic sites. DNR/HPD provided templates, recommendations, and guidelines for preservation and the
Secretary of the Interior's Standards
for the Treatment of Historic Properties.

Jeannie Cyriaque, DNR/HPD African American Program Coordinator and editor of Reflections, a publication of the Georgia African
American Historic Preservation Network posted online by HPD. Cyriaque provided encouragement and access to an extensive
network of people and places, and she has promoted the African American Heritage Site in Reflections since the project's
inception and with on-going articles about future plans and programming.
Cyriaque also promoted publicity of the Heritage Site in the DNR/HPD Preservation Posts online monthly journal.

White County agencies have given significant financial support and encouragement for development of the Heritage site.

Craig Bryant, Commissioner representing the Sautee Nacoochee area, District 4,
championed the completion of the Heritage Site and the cabin restoration in 2011 ($6,000). With the restoration complete,
Craig Bryant championed the construction of a fully functioning blacksmith shop at the Heritage Site in 2012 ($15,000) to enhance
the experience of visitors and Valley residents by providing opportunities for living history demonstrations of blacksmithing
and other crafts, tools, and technologies of the 19th century.

White County Development Authority sponsored a Tourism Product Development application for a matching grant submitted to the
Georgia Department of Economic Development for the completion of the cabin restoration. The Heritage Site was awarded $8,665 by DEcD.

John Erbele, chairman, manages many local historic sites, serves on several boards of directors, and
champions numerous cultural, environmental, and historic preservation projects.

Tom O'Bryant, Director, has promoted several Bean Creek initiatives, not the least of which is the
African American Heritage Site at the Sautee Nacoochee Center. According to Tom O'Bryant, this preservation project preserves and
interprets a uniquely significant and largely untold history of the Valley for White County and Northeast Georgia.

UGA School of Environmental Design/Department of Historic Preservation provided initial assessments, on-going collaborations,
historic and environmental preservation research services, site planning and landscaping design, and an Historic Structures Report for the
cabin restoration.

Linda Aaron - University of Georgia in Athens(UGA), Hargrett Rare Books & Manuscript Library - Ms Aaron earned degrees in art and architectural history from Mercer and
UGA, where she has been archivist and conservation assistant at the University Library for more than twenty years. She has worked on several preservation
projects in Athens and elsewhere in the state of Georgia.

Ms Aaron was contracted to research the history of slaves and slavery in the Sautee and Nacoochee Valleys. She has done this while concentrating her
efforts on learning more about the slaves owned by E.P. Williams.